1. We have some incredibly stellar speakers! JULIA QUINN, author of the ridiculously popular Bridgerton series (which includes Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, which is about Penelope, who is my name-sake!) is conducting a master writing class. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? You can take a craft class with JULIA FREAKIN' QUINN!!!!!!!! *I'm catching my breath* Whoa.

Julia Quinn

Book Cover for Romancing Mr. Bridgerton

(Yes, that is me, Penelope, in the hot pink dress).

2. ZOE ARCHER, author of Warrior, which is on my all-time favorites list, is the keynote speaker. She writes a fabulously creative mix of steampunk, romance, historical, sci fi, paranormal and more. And...she has an awesome hubby, Nico Rosso, who is a sci fi/romance author himself, and they are DOING A WORKSHOP TOGETHER! ("How To Write An Action Scene")!!!! *I'm catching my breath* Also, Zoe has some really bad-ass boots. (Penny is going shopping soon!! Ha!)

Zoe and Nico

(You might also want to note that Nico has an extremely excellent beard/stache combo).

3. The NECRWA's very own award-winning historical author CAROLINE LINDEN is also speaking at conference! Not only is she an amazingly talented author and devoted Red Sox fan, but she was also a math major at Harvard. Let me repeat that...MATH major. At HARVARD. (I'm betting she doesn't have any problems helping her kids with their third grade math homework. Like someone else I know. *Penny hangs head in shame*).

Caroline Linden

4. We have everything covered at this conference. Craft workshops. Industry workshops. Workshops where Penelope drinks a cocktail and teaches folks how not to be a complete schmo on the internet. Stuff like that. The really cool thing about our workshops is that we have wildly successful authors in all sub-genres speaking (contemporary, historical, steampunk, paranormal, sci fi, erotica, fantasy, etc), including Tiffany Reisz (erotica), Marie Force (contemporary/self-publishing), Sarah MacLean (historical) and many more.

5. We are offering editor/agent appointments with a wonderful group of industry professionals, including agents Louise Fury, Jenny Bent, and Eric Ruben, and editors Amanda Bergeron, Patience Bloom, Chris Keeslar, Lori Perkins, Guillian Helm, and Pat Van Wie. Registrants submit the first ten pages of their work for critiques, which is an incredible opportunity. Don't miss it!

6. Book fair! All of your favorite authors will be hawking their warespimping their booksdoing a song and dance routine selling their books at book fair!

7. Schmoozing.

8. Drinking.

9. Boston is only 10 minutes away if you're in the mood.

10. Penny has something special planned to top her tiara-wearing incident from last year. (see photo below)...

Penny's Fabulous Tiara

I don't want to spoil the surprise, but it just might have something to do with tattoos, and sparkly unicorns.

So there you have it! An opportunity to take top-notch workshops, pitch your stories to a super impressive group of agents/editors, meet your favorite authors, sell your books to fantastic New England fans, get inspired, and party with a crazy person wearing a tiara and sporting a sparkly unicorn tattoo.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

For everyone who told me how gorgeous I looked at the Oscars...thank you. I know. I looked freakin' fantastic in this sparkly silver dress.

✯

To everyone who told me how delicious these lemon thumbprint cookies turned out, thank you. I know. They kicked ass. I made them with Julia Rachel Barrett's home-made lemon curd. Also, I started Julia's Daughters of Persephone series, and I loved the first story! Great combination of sci fi and romance. It's FREE right now at Amazon.

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To everyone who recommended Jayne Ann Krentz's book ALL NIGHT LONG, I would like to say thank you. I loved it! This is a great suspense novel, with a super sexy and eccentric ex-marine, a determined and quirky heroine, lots of great chemistry and humor, and a nice mystery thrown in for good measure. The intervention scene is hilarious!

✯

To Duncan, the 4 year old boy who read LUCY THE WONDER WEENIE and said "It's alarious" I say...thank you. I know. It is alarious. And I'm super glad you liked it!

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

1. Please stop by Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf for a fun interview and giveaway--she is hosting the Fiery Hot Reads bash at her blog. We discuss my embarrassing writing requirements, my book cover mishaps, and most importantly...who would play Marcus the Lumberjack in the Hollywood version of my book. She is giving away a copy of LUMBERJACK IN LOVE. Check it out!

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

I have been keeping most of Sara Pulver's paintings under wraps (TOP SECRET!) so I wouldn't ruin the surprise of our awesome book coming out. But I decided today--RELEASE DAY!!!!--to treat everyone to one of her special paintings. This is one of my favorites from our new book LUCY THE WONDER WEENIE. It's nothing short of brilliant. I wrote the text for this book, sent her an idea for each picture, and let her go with her imagination. Every single time, she surprised me with a vision I had not anticipated, and she created something more, something better, something simply amazing. I cried when I saw this painting for the first time.

Just in case, you didn't know....

TODAY IS RELEASE DAY FORLUCY THE WONDER WEENIE!

What is it?

A 32-page, full color, 8.5x8.5 picture book, in paperback, about a super hero weenie dog with an obsessive compulsive licking problem.

Who should read it?

Everyone! I would especially recommend parents and kids snuggling together, surrounded by stuffed animals and real animals, hopefully with a plate of cookies close by.

Monday, February 11, 2013

I threw my back out again, and it's very slowly getting better. This post may be a bit of a mish mash. Here we go!

1. Please stop by the FOOLS FOR LUV blog today. Julia Rachel Barrett and I did a super fun post about tasty tropical treats to serve your loved one for Valentine's Day, including a recipe for Julia's Tiny Thai Pulled Chicken Sammies and my own favorite Mango Martini. We are also giving away books. Happy Early Valentine's Day!

2. I threw my back out twice last week. Here are some of the helpful hints from friends and family about treating this hideous ailment....

* Drink hard liquor.

* Stretch more.

* Go to the chiropractor to get an "adjustment" (I'm not sure what an adjustment is, but that sounds scary).

* Take drugs. Lots of drugs. A mixture of muscle relaxants, pain killers and other exciting things.

3. Since I was laid up in bed with a bad back, I figured it was finally time to read Maya Banks' cray cray Colter Brothers series, where three handsome, hunky, horny brothers find an unconscious woman lying in a ditch and instantly decide she's the woman they want as their (collective) wife. She's a virgin, of course. Needless to say, it all works out in the end, although I'm not sure how the woman could walk the next day after servicing all three brothers. At the same time. Over and over again. Best part of this silly series? The woman has three sons and guess what happens with them? Yep, that's right. They all fall instantly in love with a beautiful homeless woman and have a good old-fashioned 4-way marriage.

What? That could totally happen!

(Did I mention they're all gorgeous and hunky?)

4. After finishing the Colter Brothers series, I decided to take some Scottish medicine in the form of Hannah Howell's Highland Knight. This book was a little bit long for me, but I was completely immersed in the story about a feisty wee lassy and her big, brooding Scottish abductor. Yum! My back sure felt a lot better by the end of this book. It was a sweet, sexy, lusty story. Who needs pain killers?

5. My awesome website designer, Sharon Breitbart, made me a new author site for Nina Clark, author of LUCY THE WONDER WEENIE. It's adorable! We included balloons, goofy dogs, sunflowers, and lots of pics of the real Lucy. Please check it out!

Monday, February 4, 2013

1. I read a book called Gnome on the Range by Jennifer Zane which I downloaded as a freebie. I thought is was about a homicidal gnome (see exhibit A, the cover). The cover image is creepy and the title is creepy. Lo and behold, it was sort of a romance. It also included gnomes, horse semen, an evil villain with a mustache, lots of dildos, an explosion, a stick-up, a monster car show, and a lot of flip-flops. Strangely enough, I was entertained and laughed out loud in spite of the ridiculous storyline and cartoonish plot. But still. The cover! I was slightly disappointed that it was not a horror story about a homicidal gnome. Dammit.

3. The NECRWA is looking for judges for our Bean Pot Contest (see bean pot, Exhibit C). Judges are readers, librarians and booksellers. If you're interested, please contact the contest coordinator. Here's more info about the contest at the website.

Exhibit C

4. January is over! Which means one of my new year's resolutions is over...the January Book Buying Moratorium. As a direct result of this resolution, my American Express bill was the LOWEST it's been in years. I kid you not. Which made me realize I might have a wee little impulse control problem with book buying. The solution? A combination of a budget (the horror!), a library card, and some good old-fashioned will power.

On the plus side, I used my copious American Express reward points (which I racked up from buying so many romance novels) to get TWO FREE TICKETS TO SANTA FE for summer vacation. Yee haw!

So, in conclusion, I think my romance addiction is actually having a super positive financial effect on my life. It's possible that this is faulty reasoning, but it works for me!

Exhibit D

5. My print proof of LUCY THE WONDER WEENIE is supposed to arrive today! I am excited, nervous and cray cray at the same time. Meanwhile, Lucy couldn't care less (see Exhibit E).